ABSTRACT
The Parliamentary Working Group on drugs (PWG), charged with studying the drug problem in Belgium, acted as a useful mechanism for agreeing on the concepts or perspectives for understanding of the drug phenomenon and for influencing Federal Government policy through clear recommendations. This chapter examines the intermezzo period from 1997 to 2000 when, because of exogenous factors, debates over drug policy slipped slightly off the agenda. It also provides the platform for a set of empirical findings demonstrating how the distinction between science and the media is a false dichotomy: the latter were a key force in the promotion of the former – albeit in a distorted way. During this intermezzo, three 'Drugs Policy 2000' conferences took place. Each of these conferences clearly included matters addressed by the Parliament and/or Government earlier on. In 2000, the drug issue gradually re-entered the political agenda in Belgium.
